Natural Death Vs Civil Death
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ISSN 2039-2117 (online) Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences Vol.5 No.22 ISSN 2039-9340 (print) MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy September 2014 NATURAL DEATH VS CIVIL DEATH Valbona ALİKAJ [email protected] D DOI:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n22p320 Abstract Death is an inevitable phenomenon, which implies the termination of the life of persons. All over the world, in a day, a large number of children are born, but unfortunately also a large number of people die because of illness, age, homicide, suicide or poverty. Death is not only a biological process, as at the same time it affects directly the legal capacity of a person. Therefore the natural death of the person is seen as a cause that brings legal consequences at its verification. Being considered as a natural phenomenon as well as legal, death is considered as a legal fact with which legislations bind the beginnings, changes or terminations of legal. Legal capacity of a person, as a condition to undertake rights and obligations, is the determining element to gain the quality of a natural person. This quality is gained with the birth and terminated with the death. There are special cases, under which it is difficult to verify the natural death of a person for reasons such as: absence of the cadaver or the uncertainty of the circumstances in which the person has been lost or absented. In order to guarantee the legal security and also the conservation of personal and property rights of the person, legislations have provided the declaration of the person dead, which may come as a result of natural disasters, accidents, military actions or as a consequence of declaring before the person missing. This paper aims to make a comparative analysis between the procedure of declaration of a natural death of the person and the procedure of declaring a person dead according to the Albanian legislation. For this reason it will be analyzed the persons who are entitled to make the request for the declaration of the person dead, the legal force of the decision of the court through which the person is declared dead and the necessary time limits for declaring a person dead. Keywords: natural death, civil death, procedure, legitimated persons, declaration of death Introduction Death is the phenomenon of the termination of physiological functions of creatures, including humans. Death as a philosophical concept is "the termination of life on earth, the separation of the soul from the body. The death of the person is the body’s death, passing into the afterlife, in that spiritual..." (Dalya, 1881). Death as a biological concept is the termination of life (Ozhegov, 1953). Death is a legal fact, categorized as a natural event which occupies a special position among other legal facts. This is not only linked with the psychological influence of relatives but, at the same time it directly affects on the legal capacity of a person. Natural death of the person brings the termination of some legal consequences and the beginning of some others. The dead person ends his biologically life, but he continues to remain part of some juridical consequences, because from the juridical point of view it is considered as a legal fact which entails the beginning, the changes or the termination of legal relations. Death is a fact that brings the acquisition of rights and obligations for a group of people. Some legal relationships begin with the verification of death as; property rights and obligations which exceed by the inheritance to the heirs. Instead, some other relationships terminate as the dissolution of the marriage (Art. 123 Family Code of Albania) Beside the natural death of the person, which is due to the termination of all its physiological functions, legislations provide even the civil death, which presumes a possible natural death. As in the case of natural death, even the civil death must be registered in the state civil authorities. There are two ways by which a person can be declared dead natural death, which is certified on a medical report; Civil death which is verified by the court decision which recognizes the person dead (Art. 379 Procedural Code of Albania): a. if for over six years there have been no news from the date of receiving the latest news from the person 320 ISSN 2039-2117 (online) Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences Vol.5 No.22 ISSN 2039-9340 (print) MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy September 2014 b. if the person has been lost during military actions and this missing is verified by military authorities, when there is no notice for two years issuing certified by the competent military authorities, when there is no notice for two years from the peace establishing agreement has entered into force or three years from the end of military actions The person missing during a natural disaster or in circumstances which appear to show he is deceased, may be declared deceased by decision of the court, when there have been no notices from him for two years after the disaster has occurred, without necessarily being previously declared missing (Art. 19 Civil Code of Albania); This paper aims to analyze the relevant procedures for each of the ways of declaring a person dead and the legal relations that begin, change or terminate as a result of this declaration . NATURAL DEATH AND THE REGISTRATION IN THE CIVIL REGISTRY The Civil registry the set of personal data of Albanian citizens, foreign citizens and stateless persons who are temporarily or permanently resident in the Republic of Albania and which are registered and kept in the National Civil Registry and which help to certify the birth, the existence, the individuality and the relationships between them (Art. 2/1Law “Civil State"). The Civil registry the set of personal data, that verify the birth, existence, individuality of the citizens and their relations. These facts are to a particular importance because they serve to identify the person and determine relationships between them. These facts are of a particular importance because they serve to identify a physical person and to determine the relationship between him and the others. The registration in civil registry is also important for acquisition of the rights and obligations of the person. Registration of legal facts in the civil registry determines the juridical status of the person in a certain moment, beginning from his legal capacity, the capacity to act and his rights and obligations. The components of the civil registry are: name and surname, identity number, date of birth, place of birth, sex, nationality, motherhood, fatherhood, marital status, death, declaration of missing, residence, domicile and other facts provided by law (Art. 6 “Civil State"). One of the main components of the civil registry is death. The act of registration of death brings the termination of legal capacity of a person and the beginning of legal consequences for relatives and other persons who have been in a legal relationship with the deceased. The procedure of the declaration the natural death The Albanian Law no. 10129, dated 11.05.2009 "On the Civil Registry" provides the declaration of a natural death. Respectively article 52 of this law provides that the declaration of death can be made by any adult family member or a relative of the family and, in their absence, from the compliance officer of the municipality/ commune, in the Civil Registry Office , where the citizen had the domicile/ residence or where the body was found. The citizen is determined as dead, when his death is verified by a medical report, through which is identified the person and determined the time, place and cause of death. When the body can not be identified, or when suspected signs of a violent death are observed the report issued by the forensic expert should be signed by the prosecutor. In the medical report the causes of death are classified due to health, accidental or criminal reasons. The declaration of death should be made within 10 days of the incident, or the finding of the body of the dead person, and within 60 days, when death has occurred abroad (Art.52 Law “Civil State").. For those who die in hospitals, military bases, in prisons, in rehabilitation wards and other institutions are obliged to inform in written form the nearest office of civil registry within 5 days, for deaths occurring in their institutions. With the declaration of death, the civil registry office gives the funeral permission. In the communes who are under the jurisdiction of municipalities where there are not registry office the funeral permission is given by the mayor of the commune. In this case, the mayor of the commune, after the administration of the documents that verify the death, is obligated within five days, to notify the civil state office where the citizen was registered, for the registration of the death certificate. 321 ISSN 2039-2117 (online) Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences Vol.5 No.22 ISSN 2039-9340 (print) MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy September 2014 When the civil state office takes the notification of death, from the above institutions and in cases when there are no relatives to make the declaration, it requires the verification from the representatives of the local government. If the death is confirmed, then he compiles the act of death, which must be signed, as appropriate, from the representatives of the local government, the mayor of the commune, the district administrator, or from the representatives of the funeral service, or the representative. The death certificate will be absolutely void when the person, in fact, is not dead, which is confirmed by his physical appearance or his existence after the date of the act of death, in cases of the absence of the body or when the body results of another person (Art.